NAD: What Do Deaf and Hard of Hearing People Need the Lyrics For?

From the National Association of the Deaf blog:

On September 30, 2008, a federal judge in Maryland ruled that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires the Washington Redskins to provide fans who are deaf or hard of hearing with equal access to the auditory information broadcast over the stadium public address system at FedExField where the Redskins play. This auditory information includes play-by-play announcements, referee calls, music with lyrics, advertisements, safety/emergency information, and other announcements. This victory comes two years after the NAD and Joe Espo, a lawyer with Brown, Gold & Levy, LLP, filed a lawsuit on behalf of three deaf Redskins fans: Shane Feldman, Paul Singleton, and Brian Kelly.

I consider this a huge piece of big news-- deaf and hard of hearing people will finally be able to access the stuff that goes on over the microphone in a stadium.  The hubby and I used to go to the Bulls and Cubs games before we had kids, and we would often sit there during half-time and the seventh inning stretch, wondering what was being said or sung.  We knew the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," but had no clue who was singing it, for we couldn't access the announcements that identified the singers.  If someone famous was at the game, we'd usually hear about it on the news later that night.

You would think that having the captions at a game would be welcomed by many, but in his column at the Washington Post, Marc Fisher feels that the judge has gone too far in requiring that lyrics to the songs be displayed: 

It's only fair to post on the scoreboard the summary of each play that gets announced to the crowd--in fact, the scoreboard version is sometimes easier to understand than the announced version, even for hearing fans.

But the songs played during time-outs and halftime are hardly crucial to an understanding of the game. Indeed, many fans find the constant blasting of music distracting and annoying and may even envy the deaf for being able to focus more purely on the game.

Sure, go ahead and envy my ability to turn off my hearing aids during the noisy parts that you describe, but don't decide for me what I can, or cannot access in a public facility.   People with normal hearing have the ability to access what goes on in a stadium.  Even if a person couldn't understand what was said on the loudspeaker, they have the choice to get up and go closer to a speaker or find a quieter place near the food stand to grasp what is said. 

I am deaf.  I don't have that choice.  I don't have that ability. 

Mr. Fisher goes on to wonder if perhaps this silly lawsuit is just a tactic to "harass the team's owner."

Oh please.  Deaf and hard of hearing rabble rousers just want to play around with lawsuits?  For fun?

That's certainly not the case.

In the case of those deaf and hard of hearing patrons who initiated the lawsuit-- they're asking for the same right to enjoy and access an event at the stadium like people without disabilities. Mr. Fisher argues that "most hearing fans can't make out the lyrics either."  If only a handful of people in the stadium can access the lyrics and the rest can't, well, deaf and hard of hearing people have the right to be on the same equal access ground as that handful who can hear the lyrics.

If we want to talk about equal playing ground between people who can hear and those who are deaf and hard of hearing, then yes, we should require the bars and restaurants to have a visual display of any announcements or music that is playing.  If you want to talk about the real spirit behind the Americans With Disabilities Act, we'd all share the vision to equalize the access for all people with disabilities in every public arena. 

If we raise a generation of people with this vision, then we wouldn't build another building without full access for all. 

And there would be no more lawsuits.